Arcadia_2001

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Arcadia 2001

The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit console released by Emerson Radio Corp. The game library was composed 51 unique games and about 10 variations. The graphics quality is similar to those of the Intellivision and the Odyssey².

The Arcadia was not named after the company of the same name. Arcadia Corporation, manufacturer of the 2600 supercharger, was sued by Emerson for trademark infringement. Arcadia Corporation then changed its name to Starpath. . Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 world-wide, over 30 Arcadia clones exist.

Description

The Arcadia is much smaller than its contemporary competitors and is powered by a standard 12-volt power supply so it can be used in a boat or a vehicle. This portability feature, however, requires a portable television, which was extremely rare in the early 1980s. It also has two outputs(or inputs) headphone jacks on the back of the unit, on the far left and far right sides.

The system came with two Intellivision-style control pads, but with a lighter touch on the side 'fire' buttons. The control pads have screw holes in their centers, so that one could transform them into a joystick, as with the later Sega Master System's controller. Most games came with mylar overlays which could be applied to the controllers. The console itself had five buttons: power, start, reset, option, and select.

There are at least three different types of cartridge case styles and artwork, with variations on each. Emerson-family carts come in two different lengths of black plastic cases; the short style is similar to Atari 2600 carts in overall size. This family uses a unique "sketch" type of picture label. MPT-03 family cart cases (see below) resemble Super NES carts in size and shape, except that they are molded in brown plastic. Their labels look much more modern and stylized, with only a minimal picture on each. There are also a family of what look like pirate carts, that look nothing like the others in shape, size or label artwork. The different labeled versions however all used the same cartridges.

Market Failure

The Emerson version of the console was essentially considered dead on arrival in the USA. The system came out at nearly the same time as the Atari 5200 and the ColecoVision were released. In addition, Atari's use of exclusive rights to many games made it very virtually impossible for Emerson to get popular games to the console.

Emerson actually created many popular arcade titles including Pacman, Galaxian and Defender for the Arcadia and had them manufactured. However, Atari started to sue its competitor companies for releasing games to which it had exclusive-rights agreements and Emerson was left with thousands of manufactured games that could no longer be sold.

Variants

The Arcadia 2001 was licensed to many different companies and sold under different names, not all consoles are compatible however due to differences in cart slots and cases.

Name	Manufacturer	Country	Compatibility family
Advision Home Arcade	Advision	France	Emerson console
Arcadia	Bandai	Japan	Emerson console
Arcadia 2001	Emerson	U.S.A.	Emerson console
Cosmos	Tele-Computer	Spain	Emerson console
Dynavision	Morning-Sun Commerce	Japan	MPT-03 console
Ekusera	P.I.C.	Japan	MPT-03 console
Hanimex MPT-03	Hanimex	France	MPT-03 console
HMG-2650	Hanimex	Germany	Emerson console
Home Arcade Centre	Hanimex	France	Emerson console
Intelligent Game MPT-03	Intelligent Game	U.S.A	MPT-03 console
Intercord XL 2000 System	Intercord	Germany	Emerson console
Intervision 2001	Intervision	Switzerland	Ormatu console
ITMC MPT-03	ITMC	France	MPT-03 console
Leisure-Vision	Leisure-Dynamics	Canada	Emerson console
Leonardo	GiG Electronics	Italy	Emerson console
Ormatu 2001	Ormatu Electronics BV	Netherlands	Ormatu console
Palladium Video Computer Game	Neckermann	Germany	Palladium console
Polybrain Video Computer Game	Polybrain	Germany	Palladium console
Poppy MPT-03 Tele Computer Spiel	Poppy	Germany	MPT-03 console
Prestige Video Computer Game MPT-03	Prestige	France	MPT-03 console
Rowtron 2000	Rowtron	UK	MPT-03 console
Schmid TVG-2000	Schmid	Germany	Emerson console
Sheen Home Video Centre 2001	Sheen	Australia	Ormatu console
Soundic MPT-03	Soundic	Finland	MPT-03 console
Tele Brain	Mr. Altus	Germany	Palladium console
Tele-Fever	Tchibo	Germany	Emerson console
Tempest MPT-03	Tempest	Australia	MPT-03 console
Tobby MPT-03	Tobby	Tobby	MPT-03 console
Trakton Computer Video Game	Trakton	Australia	Palladium console
Tryom Video Game Center	Tryom	U.S.A	MPT-03 console
Tunix Home Arcade	Monaco Leisure	New Zealand	Emerson console
UVI Compu-Game	Orbit Electronics	New Zealand	Orbit console
Video Master	Grandstand	New Zealand	Orbit console